Even the Wizards Side fics
by Gamma Cavy
Summary: This here's a set of side stories for Even The Wizards Must Pay Their Due. It will be updated sporadically as the mood and inspiration strike me, and there's no guarantee that the side fics will be in chronological order. Rated T for Ed's mouth. 1: I wonder if I should feel sorry for whatever fool encountered Fullmetal's particular brand of mayhem. I thought.
1. Chapter 1: Roy

Hughes might be my best friend, but sometimes it's hard to avoid setting his photos on fire, I mused as yet another was shoved in my face. I'd long ago learned to tune out most of his babble, but if I didn't keep at least half an ear on it he tended to surprise me with questions about what I think of this or that titbit of Elysia's progress. When I was unable to answer he would subject me to the full set of pictures, _again_.

A familiar stomping tread reached my ears from the hall. _Ah, Fullmetal's back_. Back and angry, judging from the stomping. The door slammed into the wall, and the dulcet tones of my youngest subordinate reached my ears. "Hey! Bastard Colonel! Al and I just rescued a kid. You're helping us find a place to stay. And that lead was a total dead end. I am never going Outside again, everyone there is too stupid to live! And they've all bought into this cult thing where they do alchemy through twigs and call it magic!"

Someday I should make him fix the dents his method of announcing himself causes when the doorknob hits the wall, but I haven't done so yet. My first thought upon seeing him was definitely not _rescue_ ,* but I was glad to see him. So he didn't think much of the outsiders' _wizards_ either. No one does, what with their ignorance of Equivalent Exchange.

"Well that's why we've left the Xerxesian barrier up; even Xing agrees that the Outsiders are stupid, and they have one of the anchoring arrays just offshore." I answered. Then the other half of what Fullmetal said sank in and I did my best to conceal my shock. What did he say about a kid?

I was so surprised that I barely registered his response. He should mutter more often, it makes a nice change from the usual yelling.

The giant suit of armor that was his younger brother entered at that moment.

 _I wonder if I should feel sorry for whatever fool encountered Fullmetal's particular brand of mayhem._ I thought. Since Fullmetal's mayhem tended to include his ability to transmute with a simple clap of the hands, and rearranging the landscape/architecture/ whatever was in his way, and he had more than once been known to trap whoever incurred his ire in a giant fist made of stone, this was reasonable. Then I thought again. _Nope. He usually has a good reason for mayhem, and I don't have to pay for it this time. Hmm… I wonder how long before he realizes that I only need the bills for his damage to track him, and I don't spy on him at all hours?_ Not that spying on him would be appealing anyway. I have better things to do with my time; such as think of new ways to rile him up, track leads to help those two, dream about Riza, and plot my ascension to Fuhrer…

"This is Harry. We rescued him." He was acting out again. Damn, it was going to be One of Those Days. Did he have a scorecard or something? That would be childish, and one would expect better of the youngest state alchemist in history, even if he is twelve. He goes out of his way to annoy me, which is just unreasonable. I never did anything to him.

By then I had conveniently forgotten the incident with the train hijackers, the general, and the Elrics.**

"You rescued a kid? I want details. Fullmetal, give me a _short_ summary of your report," I said. Mount Edward blew. Even if it did make my Hughes induced headache worse, score one for me!

In the next moment I almost felt sorry for Fullmetal as Hughes shoved the photos of Elysia at him. There are only so many baby pictures one can stand, especially of the baby that's eating. It's just wrong to see Gracia like that! Riza is the only one for me. Or the baby in the bath. I hope the new camera cost him something, I thought vengefully.

"Al was cuter," Fullmetal said, and the room froze. Unable to resist I turned towards Al, as did everyone else. Fullmetal contradicted Hughes over the words _Elysia_ and _cute_. It's an unwritten rule: don't contradict Hughes over the baby pictures! But Fullmetal just did. Is he insane?

The child, Harry? stirred at that point, and Al took him down to the cafeteria for some food, at which point we demanded an explanation. Fullmetal obliged, in his own inimitable fashion. "The people Outside are divided, alchemists hide from non-alchemists, they do alchemy through _sticks_ and call it magic, and there was some terrorist who didn't like people who weren't born to alchemy learning it."

Well that was… _strange._

"The kid's credited with stopping the terrorist when he was one, even though his parents probably did it, and the old bastard everyone looks up to so much that he might as well be officially in charge, decided the kid was an important weapon and dropped him with abusive relatives, planning to swoop in and _rescue_ him in about six years. The old guy was the only one who might know where the stone was so I went to ask him politely,"

I suppressed a snort. Fullmetal was rarely polite. He was polite to Riza, but most of the time I wondered about his lack of manners. One would think he'd been raised by wolves! Just how _polite_ had he been? Slightly less evil tempered than usual?

"But he decided he wanted a pet alchemist and tried to make me a slave so I stuck him to the wall, took the kid, and came back." The younger alchemist paused, looking dreamy. I hoped to never see that look on his face again unless the Philosophers Stone was inches from his face at the time. It was disturbing. "I wonder how long it'll take them to get him out of the wall…"

I squelched the impulsive rage that anyone would try to _enslave_ one of **_my_** subordinates, much less the youngest one. Fullmetal could not only take care of himself, but was capable of causing trouble for me if he thought I was protecting him, and then he'd demand I take care of myself. I spoke up, covering my lapse, "Someone actually thought they could take you by force? You'd better not have given me more paperwork, Fullmetal."

"Edward, what are you going to do with a small child?" Riza broke in.

Fullmetal's answer was very unhelpful. "We're gonna take care of him," as if it were that simple. As I thought through the implications of him being responsible for a child, even with Al to help, I winced. I could see the kid, ten years on, bringing home twice as many strays as Al, backing Fullmetal up with the mayhem instead of trying reason first like Al, and throwing off sparkles. Wait, what? How did sparkles get there?

Shuddering, I resolved to never let the child meet Armstrong.

After a long silence Hughes, ever irrepressible, broke the silence with, "Well, you're staying with me and Gracia while you work things out. I'm sure she wouldn't mind taking care of him long term if you need somewhere for him to stay while you travel."

" _Thank you_ Hughes," I said, reserving my doubts about the lovely Gracia's reaction to being informed that her husband volunteered them to adopt Fullmetal's newest stray.

"Oh it's no problem, besides, _it'll be good practice for when Elysia grows up!"_ Damn! I thought I was safe, but nooo, he had to come back around to the topic of Elysia! I resigned myself to my sad and sorry fate.

Fullmetal vanished, the traitor, as Hughes produced more photos. And Riza, how could you abandon me! _"And I need to show you the rest of the pictures!"_ my best friend squealed.

* * *

*Yes it was. He just won't admit it.

**Fullmetal Alchemist series one, episode five.


	2. Chapter 2: Prince Yao

**_A transcript of the rumors percolating amongst the populace of Xing, in the Year of the Sage 415, to 418, surrounding Prince Yao, the immortal._**

 _Prince Yao has returned_ , came the whisper of rumor, barely a month after the strange time where all the people of Xing had collapsed at once, and the western sky shone red, only for all the people to wake with less than a minute gone, save for those who had been grievously injured in the fall, and not woken again.

 _Prince Ling has aligned with the Changs,_ came the second rumor, hard on the heels of the first one _. Prince Yao's guard has a silver hand,_ came the next one, which puzzled many. Then came the loudest rumor: _Prince Ling has discovered the secret of immortality! Someone tried to assassinate him on the road and he took a knife to the heart, only to stand up again._

Nobody believed the last two until Prince Yao returned to the capitol, with Mei Chang by his side, and calmly informed the emperor and his council, "I found it. I have discovered Immortality."

Reportedly, one of the advisers had snorted at this, and Prince Ling had been asked to explain further.

The prince's eyes had opened then, cold and violet, as his right hand had turned grey and clawed. "Normally, I'd just ask someone to kill me," he said, and his voice was smooth and deadly, "but LanFan gets all upset if I do." By the door, Lanfan clenched her fists, and some saw that indeed, the right one was sliver. The prince's claws dug into his chest: there was a crunch of bone, and a wet sound, followed by a gush of blood. He fell to the floor, then in a torrent of red light, the wound sealed itself, and he stood up again. "That's the fourth time I've died. Proof enough?"

He'd been declared crown prince the next day.

Reports of shouting from the palace in the voices of Prince Ling and his imperial father remained unproven.

After that, things were relatively quiet, until his royal father's death and his ascension to the throne. The first thing he did was declare Mei Chang his royal alkahestrist. The second thing he did was ask his guard, LanFan, to marry him.

There were protests, of course, but somehow no one could argue with him when he opened his eyes, showing the unnatural purple, and spoke quietly but firmly, with a note to his voice like a barely contained snarl, that was anything but human.

In the upheaval following that, a young man arrived from the west, was greeted gladly by Emperor Ling Yao, and began to meet daily with the Chang princess. The servants whispered about him, and his golden blond hair, wondering if the Sage of the West had looked like this.

More sensible people said of course not, even if this Alphonse Elric's eyes were a kind of greenish gold. It was known that there were Amestrians with such features, after all, and the Sage had been described as like a statue of gold come to life.

Then during court, a letter came for Alphonse (just call me Al) Elric, and the messenger said that it was urgent. There was a quiet exchange in Amestrian between the emperor and Al, as the Amestrian read the letter. Emperor Ling said something questioning, peered over his guest's shoulder at the letter, cheered, and declared that he was going to visit Amestris.

Naturally the advisers had fits over this, but Emperor Ling would not be deterred from going to the wedding of someone he referred to as "man who fed a shoe to the emperor," and Emperor Ling always got his way in the end, whether or not he had to open his eyes to get it.

News came back ahead of the emperor. Mei Chang and Alphonse Elric were to be married, and many guests were coming to the wedding. The entourage returned, with many additions that were there to stand with Alphonse Elric, but the people of Xing gathered from their talk that someone was not there who was supposed to be.

As the feast in celebration of the official announcement of the betrothal began; shamefully late, what with the wedding scheduled for the next day; many watchers were puzzled. The Emperor headed the table, with his wife beside him, and his sister and her beloved one seat away from him, and the Amestrian delegation taking up most of that end of the table, but there was a gap at the emperor's right hand.

Fire flared behind the Emperor, hands went to knives, and Amestrians aimed suspicious looks at a man who bore something of a resemblance to Emperor Ling. He spread white gloved hands and shrugged. "It's not me, this time."

As the fire faded, a young man became visible in the flames, clad in red, with golden hair tied in a braid, and a magnificent scarlet and gold bird perched on his shoulder.

He took the empty chair, and the feast began, with delighted exclamations from Ling and Alphonse (just call me Al) Elric.

That night gossip flowed like rivers. It seemed the man of fire was named Edward, he was Al's elder brother, he had an arm made of metal, _and_ , this was said in tones of hushed awe, the bird on his arm was the Fenghuang, the Phoenix, the immortal bird of flames; Areal, the rumors said her name was when Al had addressed her in thanks for bringing his brother.

The rumors the next day were more amazing still. He called the emperor Idiot Prince, and the honored phoenix _Goldie_ ; he had aided the Emperor in gaining immortality; he was the one who had rebuilt the nation of Xerxes in one day; his hair and eyes were as golden as the feathers of the phoenix; and his eyes were lit with an inner fire, a fire that permeated his being, and radiated from his presence, a sense that he was more real than the rest of the world.

Even the doubters could not deny his resemblance to the Sage, as if a statue of gold had come to life, a resemblance that was confirmed to be fact when an enterprising maidservant asked how he came to resemble so strongly the creator of Alkahestry.

His answer was confused, rather rude, and stated that the Sage was his father.

Greatly daring she asked if this meant he too was immortal, as legend said the Sage was, and must truly be, for him to have a son who was only now nearing his twentieth year.

Reports were that her ears had yet to recover.

And lo, the rumors beheld that Edward of the Fenghuang's regard referred to The Sage as That Bastard. And the people wondered what act could have created such a title.

 _ **And it was still early in the reign of Immortal Emperor Ling Yao. What more might yet come? pondered the people.**_

* * *

 **A.N. So here's chapter two, the reaction of the Xingese populace to Greed/Ling, the changes in dynamics such as Mei's alliance with Ling, Lan Fan's automail, and the general happenings of Fullmetal Alchemist and Even The Wizards Must Pay Their Due, as they affected Xing.  
**

 **Guest 2: Glad you like it. Sorry this won't update nearly as frequently as Even The Wizards Must Pay Their Due.  
**

 **ArtofthePlate; Yeah, I loved that image as well. It's just such a great phrase to sum up a short rant.**

 **Guest: I know. He would say it though, don't you think?**


	3. Chapter 3: Truth

**_A.N_.1 Because Ed has a fire in him that neither of his parents had, understands Equivalent Exchange at a deeper level than anyone else, and brings truth with him, striping away lies and illusions. So where did he come from?  
**

It watched.

It worried, and it planned.

It only had two alchemists, and neither would be suitable for what it needed. But it did have other options, other souls it had touched. As its course of action became clear, it smiled, and reached out, drawing a soul-spark to it. One it had touched before.

 _Hohenheim noticed one of the voices vanishing, but was distracted by Trisha's announcement. Those two words that turned his whole world upside down. "I'm pregnant."_

It shaped the spark with ease, belying the fact that it had never done anything like this before. This was good material to work with, malleable and already belonging to it, halfway forged into what it needed, simply from the existence it had been summoned from.

But its counter and answer needed to be more than human, so it forged in a spark of its own awareness, adding immutable awareness of the Law to its creation. As its creation was completed, it felt something of itself bind to the soul it worked with, and Truth smiled. Not its usual Grin, the one interlopers in its domain saw, but a proper, fond, pleased smile, sparked by the spark it was shaping. Its creation. Gate-child.

Truth had done what it set out to do, but found itself reluctant to let go of its creation. Still, it did, and aimed the spark to the empty body crafted by nature and one of its alchemists. Far from that which it worked against, so its child could grow untainted by that it worked against, undiscovered by the enemy. Wild life to give its child strength, and a place near the edge of the taint the Traitor had caused, to grow more in tune with the Law it made.

As the spark sank into the chosen unborn infant, Truth wondered in passing, when it had begun to think of this countermeasure as its child.

* * *

An instant, or an eternity later, (ten years) Truth's child returned to it, defying its Laws, and Truth was disappointed and angered. But then, it reasoned, why should this one be any different than the Traitor? If it was perhaps harsher than its normal way, when it sent the child through the gate, that meant nothing. It had even paused to speak with this one, after all. If Truth were capable of lying to itself it would have told itself that this meant nothing, but it was not capable of such, and so admitted that it still wished to be lenient to this child, for how else could the countermeasure work as Truth planned?

The child emerged, and Truth inquired, " _How was it?"_ hoping that the look at the True Knowledge might have awakened the countermeasure's sense of the Law enough that the child would cease to be so foolish. How had its creation been so foolish to begin with?

The child turned back to the Gate. "I see. My theory of human transmutation wasn't wrong, it can be done, it's possible. It's still just missing something."

If Truth had been grinning its ever present grin at the moment, instead of being featureless in disappointment, Truth's jaw would have dropped. "All of the answers I need are right here! Please, you have to show it to me again!"

It was pleased and surprised at once. The child did understand some things then, but still, the Law that Truth was and kept, demanded a price. Still, Truth would be as lenient as it could. The countermeasure must live to counter the Traitor, even if that meant that the proper Toll would be taken for the most part from the human that had acted with the countermeasure in standing against the Law. Still, something would have to be taken from the countermeasure, or balance would not be served.

 _"I can't do that,"_ it answered, standing. If things went as it thought they would— well, human bodies could live without limbs, and the binding that it knew to be the way the countermeasure would respond would bring the child to other humans, humans who could mend it. _"I've already shown you all I can for the Toll you've paid."_

"Toll? What Toll?" The child was so ignorant in the surface of its mind of what it knew in the depths of its Self, the Self that Truth had shaped. It was endearing.

 _"This"_ Truth said, as the leg was taken from the countermeasure and appeared on the form Truth was using to interact with its child. No, not merely it's child now. _"Surely you knew? It's the law of Equivalent Exchange, right, young Al-Che-Mist?"_

Truth's alchemist. Now and always.

* * *

And things played out as Truth had guessed, and better than Truth had hoped. It was so proud of its child the day that the young Alchemist came to it after returning the Traitor, and came bringing the Answer. Truth worked against its Law that day, bending the rule with leftover Equivalence and a renewed Toll, and gave All to the One who had at last done what it wished.

Truth's Hand. Truth's alchemist. Edward Elric.

* * *

 ** _A.N_.2 Kudos to anyone who figured out the narrator before I said it was Truth. Guest: Nice one. The previous chapter as been edited to include it.  
Guest 2: Glad you like them. I _had_ to have someone compare them, and make him lose his temper. **


	4. Chapter 4: Areal

She had always been alone. True, there was the one she served, the Decider, but she had been before any other life in the place of her birth. At least, she thought she had been born there, on the plane of flames and molten rock, born _from_ the flaming rock, and she had danced in the flames, singing for the joy of existence. Areal, she named herself, a simple trill of song, and went about Truth's business in a flash of flames, doing as it bade her.

She knew that she was old beyond mortals' ability to count, but it had never bothered her. She was what she was. Phoenix, they named her, Bennu, Lifebringer, Fenghuang, Suzaku, Firebird, Akitori, Houoh, Eldest, and she preened at the last one for it was true. She was old before other life, but inside her came a niggling desire to be called by name. Even the Decider didn't use her name. Then again, the Decider rarely used words, simply conveying the information of where she was needed and why. Those who have seen her think her gentle, and those she has healed think that must be all that she is: A bird of magic, but a bird nonetheless.

They were wrong. She is the giver of life and bringer of healing to those she may aid, but she is first the Agent of Truth and has brought about death. She moves through Truth's plane in fire, and has gilded her talons on upstarts who are her task. She is life, and she is death and rebirth, she brings peace, but wars have been fought over her, all unknowing that she served something far greater than those who seek her.

She is lonely. The mortals have many legends of creatures like her, but she is the only True one, and while she has kept company with mortals when so ordered, be it to encourage them or deny them something, they knew only the Phoenix. Not _Areal_. So she sits on the gilded perch her latest task has brought her, watching the human she must keep from taking hold of Truth's stone, when the fire in her flares up and up and up, and she burns early and from her ashes watches the boy with hair a gold she has not seen in so very long, and eyes like her own, and power that echoes of the Decider, and she wonders why an alchemist has come here. Is it time for the debt this people owe to come due?

No, the portal remains.

When the boy goes, her assignment has been bound by alchemy in his wall, and the alchemy bore the Decider's touch. What was it planning? Had she not just burned she would have flown to him, duty forgotten.

On the horrible day when her power is dimmed, she knows that the Day of Reckoning with the Traitor has begun. But here she must remain, guiding her assignment to his Toll. Ok, and vanishing to be a mascot for their ridiculous games. Even her near infinite patience has its limits with _this_ assignment.

At last, it was time. She laughed.

She brought them to the city. The very stone of the buildings rang with the Decider's power, and she admires the murals, knowing the skill of alchemy it took from even one of Truth's Alchemists to do this. Besides, she gets a good look at the Homunculus War this way.

* * *

His presence is a fire the match of her own. How many times has this human been to the Gate? She flies to him like to a beacon. He is a match for her, and the Decider's touch is strong on him. It is on his brother too, and lightly on the man and woman, but the homunculus carries it too. Why is he here? Why does he live?

And the Toll is taken through the last homunculus, and the boy the Decider spoke through knows her name. Areal, he calls her, and when the wizards are returned to die she flames back to the human who feels like kin, knows her name, and bears Truth's touch, singing in joy and triumph.

After so long unheard her name is precious, and rarely spoken. Goldie will do, as long as he does not forget. She is Phoenix. She is Fenghuang, she is Lifegiver and Deathdealer, Bennu, Firebird, and Houoh. She is Akitori, and Suzaku, and now she is Goldie as well. She is Areal, and she is no longer alone.

She is not alone. Not with him by her side, knowing her name.

 **A.N. Yes I know the tenses wander. It is deliberate. Areal is very old, existed before language was invented, and primarily communicates with Truth, which doesn't use words very often. I'm not even sure if she has the concept of tenses. Hope this wasn't too confusing to read.**

 **Guest: I'm not sure Truth realizes being a parent means frustration with the child, but yeah, its touching. Thanks for the feedback.**

 **Guest 2: Thanks, just thanks.**


	5. Chapter 5: Ling 1, the first Death

Ling knew more of what he was getting into when he accepted Greed than anyone, including Greed, thought he did. He _had_ seen Envy's revolting true form, after all, and he knew the secret of the stone, and accepted the risk of becoming nothing more than fuel for the homunculus as his only chance of perhaps getting out of this alive.

So he took it, and gave over control, and began to slowly wind himself into Greed. The best way to take what he wanted was to not let the homunculus _know_ he was taking it.

The storm screamed and wailed around him, long dead Xerxesians trying to devour him, to make him one of them, and he shuddered from the glimpses he got of their minds. What was left of them anyway, and it was no _wonder_ the homunculi were marked by the serpent devouring itself, when this ever devouring mass lay at the core of their being.

He slithered between them like an eel when Greed thought to look for him, concealing himself as one of them, letting go of the less important memories, like the taste of spiced meat, or the feel of water on his skin as he held to the things that were most important. _(He lets go of food most easily. That, at least, the homunculus does need, and when he does Ling surges up, experiencing it as well, if at a remove.)_ And day by day he wound himself further into Greed.

The first death came as a shock. Greed had been injured before, but that had been minor. This was anything but.

Greed had slipped from where they clung to a wall, climbing, as his taste for heights had been one of the first things Ling had wound into the homunculus, and they fell.

Headfirst.

 _He_ would have twisted and grabbed for the pipe to slow himself, then a flagpole, then used his momentum to launch himself to the opposing pole, and from there resumed the climb. Greed, however, fell like a stone.

There was pain, and blackness, and in that moment he lost all sense of his body, and the homunculus, and there was only the vortex. Before, even as he eeled among the mad Xerxesians, he had been aware of his body and what the homunculus did with it.

Not now. He hung there for what seemed an eternity, although he knew it was only moments, and as he hung the whirling grew more frenzied, the screaming faded, and the souls seemed to be pushing at each other. He was aware, as two faded, of the sense of triumph they emanated and the disappointment of the others.

Hastily, he pulled his mental shields back up as they remembered him, now that the chance of escape, of final, permanent death, was over. Awareness returned as the homunculus wearily picked himself up from a Ling shaped crater, and as Ling returned to winding himself into Greed, he realized with a sense of dread that there had been a few moments between Greed's revival and his awareness returning.

From then on he clung like a leech, oozing bits of himself in here and there, because his body might have the reflexes for a fight and a fall, but Greed didn't know how to use them. He refused to suffer that again.

* * *

 **Sorry for taking so long to post this. I have the unenviable ability to catch every cold that comes my way, and between getting a concussion, possibly cracking my hip in the fall (I didn't, but bruised bones hurt like hell) recovering from wisdom tooth surgery, and catching every disease that came my way, the past several months have been hard.  
**

 **Guest2 :Thank you for being the only person to review that last chapter, it means a lot that someone told me what they thought. Yes, Areal was very lonely, even if she didn't quite know what loneliness meant. But she did know that humans had something in community and family that she never had, and it was warm and she wanted something like that, someone to care about her that way. I wasn't particularly thinking of that scene when I wrote it, but I guess there are some similarities.  
**


	6. Chapter 6: Ling 2, Together With Greed

When Greed's memories returned and they fought Wrath, it was Greed who slashed and called on the shield, but it was Ling who dodged and leaped, and neither of them knew who had jumped out the window, bitterly satisfied with the fact that if they couldn't kill him they had given him the fight of his life and broken one of his swords. If Pride hadn't been there-

But that didn't matter. For now they had to hide, somewhere the others wouldn't know where to look, somewhere away from strong light, so Pride couldn't find them.

And Ling knew a place, and rejoicing in the ability to choose where to go and how to move, he took them there. He was more relived than he let on when Ed was there as well, and he was definitely touched when Ed offered Greed the option to join him, even thought he knew it was useless. When Ed ran after them calling his name, though, he had never been more surprised. He really shouldn't have been. This was Ed after all. And it's nice to hear his name again.

Ling was touched, relieved, and concerned all at once when Ed demanded to come with them, and he could tell Greed was surprised as well. The homunculus might not admit it, but he _wanted_ the company as much as he wanted anything else, and no-matter how hard he tried to deny it, he couldn't keep it from Ling.

So they traveled. Ling commented at one point that it was interesting that Greed was supposed to be in charge, when Ed made all the important decisions. Greed told him to shut up. Ling rolled his eyes and did so— for a while.

Actually that was the routine most days. Ling was glad that Greed didn't seem to notice the Ling-thoughts creeping into his, or believed them to be his own. He was coming to like Greed, but still, how could his plan succeed if Greed knew what he was doing?

* * *

Two months into their travel with Ed, Ling became aware of the consequence of his plan. Just as his desires had become a significant portion of Greed's desire, the reverse was also happening. He'd caught Greed thinking about the throne of Xing, and squashed the sense of triumph rather than let the homunculus know he felt it, but he had later found himself nostalgic and grieving for Greed's friends. Heh. Equivalent Exchange.

Another month passed. They noticed Ed always knew who has control of Ling's body –Greed's body— ok their shared body, even when Greed did the prince's squint, and they would understand if he had that weird-ass sensing ability (dragons pulse!) but he doesn't. So one day they decided to ask. His reply capital-W-capital-H Wasn't Helpful.

"I met both of you on your own. But even if I hadn't... you're different. You're different when you're Ling than when you're Greed."

"How did you know Greed on his own?" Ling asked.

Ed shrugged. "Yanno, I never thought a seven foot tall suit of armor could get kidnapped."

And that was all he said on the matter, leaving them to wonder, and hope the memory would come back to Greed soon.

* * *

One day, after they had been forced to endure a two hour litany (his Amestrian word of the day), about various people Ed considered Bastards, alternating between, 'that bastard, that Rotten Bastard, damn smirking bastard, scummy bastard, Bastard Colonel, Bearded Bastard, scamming bastard, Colonel Bastard, and Rotten Bastard once again, Ling prodded Greed with his curiosity.

"That's a lot of bastards there. The prince wants to know, is it your favorite insult or something?" Ling declined to comment on the fact that if Greed were a cat his whiskers would be quivering with interest. "And are they all the same Bastards?"

" _Hell no_!" Ed's reply was loud and emphatic. "The Colonel's a Bastard, but he's _my_ Bastard. The Rotten Bastard's just a rotten, no-good, runaway, cowardly bastard!"

* * *

 **Guest 2: Yes, I'm all right, thank you for your concern. Yeah, I thought It seemed the most likely way for him to have survived until Greed went rouge again and they started working together.**

 **ArtofthePlate: Yeah, that about sums it up. I thought that Ling would be most likely to let food go since because he appreciates it so much he has so many memories of it to draw on, and Homunculi do have to eat. I am aware that it doesn't necessarily pertain to the "Even the Wizards" universe and is quite likely canon, but I figured better to post it here because things i intend to build off of it are "Even the Wizards" continuity. Hope you liked this one as well as the first one!**


	7. Chapter 7 Ling & Greed, on Ed's father

**Happy new year all!**

* * *

The Day approached, and they went to Resembul, and there they had really good apple pie. Oh, and met Winry. Sure, Ling had met her once, but it was interesting to both of them, seeing the way the alchemist and his mechanic(cough girlfriend cough) interacted. Then they were off again.

And looking for Ed's father this time. Ling thought it said something about himself and Greed that their immediate reaction to Ed's father was shock, because of his resemblance to Greed's father, and then their thought was nice punch. It sent the man flying several feet and he was clearly going to feel it in the morning, since it was the right hand. Their opinion of the man dropped even further when he had the nerve to whine about it, when Ed had very good reasons for the punch. Ling wanted to give him another one, but Greed thought it was a better idea not to. Greed being the voice of reason was weird.  
 _And that thought had far too much of the little runt's word choice in it._  
 _Shut it Greed._  
So they listened to the man's story, and were appalled, but unwilling to forgive him for leaving Ed and Al behind. Greed felt scorn for anyone who possessed those boys and turned his back on them, and Ling just felt anger.

After Ed gave the message and they changed the subject, Ling thought _pointedly_ at Greed. The homunculus thought it was good idea, and it was Ling who vanished into the night, returning to Ed's father.

"So you're Ed's rotten, no good, runaway, cowardly bastard of a father?" one of them asked.  
"That's rather harsh," the man said mildly.  
Ling shrugged and Greed spread his hands. "Edward said it first. Still, I'd call it as I see it."  
"Oh? And why should a homunculus know or care about such things."  
"Because I care about Ed." The 'unlike you' was implied, but he wouldn't say it. At least, not yet.

"While I admit I'm grateful to you for looking after _my_ son, I see no reason to trust that you have his best interests at heart."

"Same here, old man," Greed said with Ling's mouth. "We've been together for four months and Ed's still in one piece. I don't see you doing anything to make up for leaving him. He's _mine_ now. "

"You need him alive until the Day of Reckoning. Just because he isn't dead, doesn't mean you have good intentions for him."

Ling shoved Greed to the back. "You seem," he said in his native language, —the man was the Western Sage, he should be able to speak it— "To be under the mistaken impression that I serve the father of the homunculi." Ed's father looked shocked.

"You speak—"

"I am not one of them. _I_ am Ed's friend. Greed cares for him as I do, and we stand on the side of the world remaining alive. We have no desire to see him dead."  
Never had he been more grateful for the ability of his native language to be scathingly polite. Normally the waste of time got on his nerves, but now he needed it to make his point. Greed leaned back within, watching the show. Ling smirked slightly. "It seems something has disturbed your inner peace and tranquility. Might this royal one inquire as to the cause of this discomfort?"

"You may. This one does not desire to burden another with his selfish wants," Ed's father had an archaic accent, Ling noted absently, and his choice of words was clumsy. Still, he could play the game. "But a father cannot help but worry for his children when they are in the company of those who have been his enemies."

"One could say the same about one's friends, in the company of a man who refused to return to his home, even when it caused the death of his beloved." Ling responded neutrally. "How might one tell if that refusal would be enacted once again, harming his friend?"

"I would never–" the man had slipped into an older language still, and where they overlapped Greed's knowledge fed Ling the meaning of the words. "—harm my sons! I would die first!"

"As this one's imperial grandfather, Emperor Wan, once said: one who causes harm is not given the right to decide what harm is." Ling stated evenly. Greed applauded. "And how might one trust the words of the man who fled his kin before? Or is it not the case that you were gone for ten years?"

Shock painted itself on the face of Ed's father.

Remorselessly, Ling continued, "Then, when you did return, you spoke to harm him and departed with the dawn, never once showing remorse for the harm you caused. As to death? We know the meaning of such a promise from one to whom death is but an inconvenience. _We_ shall not harm our friend. We have yet to judge if we believe you shall. But you, who were foolish enough to run from what one of us left to seek, you who do not hear his answer, you may yet harm him, by intent or mishap."

He backed up, melting into the shadows as Fu had taught him. "We will not forgive that," Greed's voice crept into his own, and together they finished, "whoever or whatever may harm what is ours." When both of them were trying to do the same thing at the same time, it was less a struggle for control and more a struggle to be faster, _faster_. And Ed said it was creepy, the dual tones of their sharing, which they were doing deliberately now, putting to great effect. They smirked again, and Ling relinquished control, allowing himself a smile the match of Greed's on _his_ face, as the homunculus finished in the language the man had slipped into, "And any threat will be destroyed. Like Wrath said before he killed me, how many times do we have to kill you before you stay dead? We'll be watching, old man. "  
Hohenheim stared into the night after them for a long time.

* * *

 **So I noticed in Episode 46: Looming Shadows, that when they meet up with Hohenheim in Kanima, Greeling and the chimera are scowling at Hohenheim right along with Ed. Later when Ed and the chimera are eating, Greeling is nowhere to be found. This is where my brain decided they were.**

 **And now for the reviews:**

 **ArtofthePlate: This is why the Bastard rant at the end of the previous chapter.**

 **I too thought Ling would accept the consequences so long as they were for himself alone. He even says, back when they'd caught Gluttony, that he knew there would be consequences, he had thought he was prepared for them, but wasn't ready for what happened to Lan Fan. As such, I thought he would accept this.  
**

 **Yeah, it gets really hard to tell who has control at any given moment in most of the later chapters, except a few notable exceptions like when Fu died, or (in the English dub) when Greed tells General Armstrong "You see the power he has?" I generally think its Greed alone for most of the fighting on the Promised Day, but then he says that and I abruptly realize that it's been the two of them. The voice is smooth when it's him alone.**

 **Guest 2: I think Roy is an older brother figure as well. They get on one another nerves that way.**


	8. Chapter 8: Musings Of an Alchemist

Hohenheim had a counter to that Bearded Bastard's plan. Scar had a countermeasure too. What idiots we were, to think that we were the only ones working against him. That Grinning White Bastard had a plan too. The Grinning White Bastard _was_ the one the Bearded Bastard was against after all; we were just a means to an end. Of course the white thing had a counter. It can't work in this world freely except through Areal, so it needed something like her, but able to face homunculi…

Something that could do alchemy. Something new, that would serve Truth's interests. The array was almost complete, but I was still missing a few lines. Once I had the lines, then I'd see.

It must have been really mad at the Bearded Bastard. I know how much I hate it when people try to ignore the law of equivalent exchange.

I guess I know why, now.

Trying to ignore the law _I_ set to take _my_ power? It _really_ must've been furious with the Bearded Bastard. He never grew. Heh, Hohenheim was right about that much. When mortal creatures dare to play god, there must be a price for their arrogance. When a creature dares to take all the True Knowledge, and the power as well, as the Bearded Bastard did? There must be balance, a counterweight, something to undo the harm. It knew what that Bearded Bastard meant to do, I know. So it needed a counter. Something of the Gate and the world like the homunculus was.

I drew a long slow breath as the final line etched itself into the array.

Me.

Born to counter that Bearded Bastard. Passed the Gate more than any person alive should manage. Holding more of the True Knowledge than anyone, even though Al paid more than I did.

The Gate curled in my mind. _(My alchemist is special)_ It's very smug about this. _(Special-smart- younger-Decider. Mine. True-chooser.)_

I am _not_ the Decider of Equivalence. I'm only human dammit! Metal scraped against metal as I clenched my fist.

But once, I acknowledged, when the Outsiders came, for a minute I was Truth, and Truth was me. Alchemists aren't gods. We're the closest things to gods there are, but we're still human, we make mistakes, and when we fall our loved ones are there to pick us back up.

But I've been Truth, and Truth was me. It created me from a dead Xerxesian and itself. I've been a Philosophers Stone made of my own soul, and when I fought Pride the people trapped inside him went through me to the Gate. I remember the broken fragments of memory as they rushed through me, thousand splintered fragments of rocks and heat and grassland, the burning desert sun, a thousand shades of sun-warmed stone, shards of ancient hate and fear as the bruise-light and fog swallowed everything, fields and rocky plains and rivers, the glint of the sun on the golden roof of a palace I have only seen in ruin, the northern forests, the eastern desert, the things they remembered of Xerxes as they rushed through me. There is a reason I rebuilt the place, more than a giant 'screw you Bearded Bastard.'

...Okay, there was some of that too. Leaving the place ruined would be doing what that Rotten Bastard said I did, and letting the Bearded Bastard win. But after seeing what they remembered of it, before the desert took it? I can't restore them, but I can make it that home once again.

And that Bearded Bastard will pay forever for what he did. I _know_ what happened to him/it/whatever, what judgement was cast. Truth knew. So I know. _You stole your power from others, you rejected your human origins, and chose to covet the power of what you called God_. I recalled saying, and only with difficulty managed to separate _those_ memories from mine.

Yes. I know what happened to the homunculus.

The Ishvalans believe in something benevolent, forgiving, and all powerful, that will save them and punish their enemies. But there is only Truth, and the unseen flow. Once I said that the flow was of such magnitude, that we tiny insignificant humans couldn't begin to comprehend it. What child of eight could understand such a concept, much less come to the answer?

Let the Ishvalans have their lie. It's a comforting one, until they're ready to face the truth.

But _I_ belong to Truth. My Gate talks and sniggers when I meet people who have it wrong. Truth worked through me when I rebuilt Xerxes. I'm only human, but I'm Truth's counter as well. Alchemists are the closest things to gods there are _. I more so than most._

Al is entirely human. He doesn't know what I am. Wake up Teacher, Colonel. Haven't you figured it out yet? If going to the Gate more than once was all it took to count as something like Areal, why isn't Al? Teacher too. I thought my bit of the Gate talked because I'd been there twice, but if so why don't Al and Teacher have to deal with it?

Because it has to do with why I exist.

I guess I'd rather claim Truth than Hohenheim for a father, if I have a choice on it. That Rotten Bastard who walked out on us and never realized he'd done something he needed to make up for, who claimed to care, but even when it came to getting Al back offered the wrong price. It wasn't Equivalent. Our price was our own. Between That Rotten Bastard and The Grinning White Bastard which's never been anything but fair to me in its own way, I'd rather claim Truth.

Heh. Wonder what this means for me in the end? I'm human, physically, but my life came from the Gate, and I know what Areal means when everyone else hears chirps. I won't use this unless I have to. Hey, Grinning White Bastard, when you made me, did you think about what I'd do after That Bearded Bastard was gone? What am I?

But then, does it matter? Truth owes me, and whatever I am, I'm me. Fullmetal. Edward Elric. Al's older brother. Whatever else I am I've been it all my life. And if there are consequences, I'll take them as they come. I always do.

"Brother? Is something wrong?" Al's so perceptive.

I turned and smiled at Al. "Nothing." Within me the Gate turned around once, like Den does, and curled its tail around its paws. _Mine_ , it whispered. _My-alchemists brother, mineoursyours. True-choosers human-friend._

So Al is human then, and I'm alone. Good. Whatever consequences there are of being whatever I am, he won't have to face them.

* * *

 **Reference Chapter 8 and 9 of the original Even the Wizards Must Pay Their Due for details on why he's remembering things Truth said and did.**

 **Augh, its been a very long and tired several months. Sorry for not updating sooner, but my heath hasn't been the greatest, and then it turned out my concussion caused hormone complications. I won't bore you with the details, but I have no idea when I'll have the brain to write again. Hopefully, I'll be able to edit the Hohenheim POV of the previous chapter and post it soon, but no guarantees.  
**

 **ArtOfThePlate: It seemed reasonable that, since Xerxesian was Van's first language he would slip into it on occasion when off guard and balance. It also felt likely that Greed would speak it because Father must. Glad you liked it!**

 **Guest2: Yeah I figured they're a protective duo, and know from Father how much damage someone with the kind of raw power Hohenheim has at his disposal could do if he felt like it, and that's discounting the emotional damage he has already done to Ed, albeit unintentionally. Thus the warning. Glad you liked it!**


End file.
